


natale a venezia

by galaxiay



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, M/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 04:09:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8696053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxiay/pseuds/galaxiay
Summary: christmas in veniceFeliciano plans of spending his Christmas alone until an unexpected visitor shows up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in 2016 and going back to read it in 2018, it wasn't the best so i rewrote all of it and added a few new things in. i hope you like it!

_December 24, 20XX_

Feliciano pulled his scarf up to cover his mouth and nose as an attempt to keep his face warm as a chilly gust of wind from the north blew passed him. He couldn’t remember the last time it was anywhere near this cold in Venice; the new reporters on TV were saying that it was a new record low in over a hundred years. The clouds above suggested that it would be raining sometime soon, freezing rain, no doubt, and Feli really wanted to get home before he was caught out in that. 

He picked up his pace a bit, weaving between the crowds. Even though the temperature was close to freezing, the sidewalks seemed more densely packed then ever (aside from the real tourist months). Last minute Christmas shopping, Feli assumed. Like really last minute. It was the night of Christmas Eve and the sun had already set over the water on the horizon, taking the last bits of warmth with it. The only light in the city now was artificial from the usual street lights and various holiday decorations. No matter how many Christmases came and gone, Feli knew he would never tire of the way his city lit up. Sometimes he wished it would look like that forever.

Someone bumped shoulders with him, hard, causing Feli to be shook from his thoughts. He realized that in his admiration of the shimmering city lights, he had come to a stop in the middle of the walkway, and was no doubt annoying those who had to get passed him. He quickly resumed his walk, glancing in the display windows of stores for what he needed to buy before he was able to be on his way. At his home (his warm, cozy home), he had only one last present to wrap, but before he could do so, he ran out of wrapping paper so now here he was out late of Christmas Eve in search for some. 

He knew that the present didn’t have to be wrapped just yet as the recipient would, much to his disappointment, not be with him for the holidays, but he wanted to gift to be prepared and full of love already. He had poured his heart into this gift so it deserved only the best. Feliciano sighed through the scarf, thinking about who the present was for. He had made it himself for the one he loved most as they had planned to spend the holidays together. That was, until something came up and Ludwig was suddenly unable to make it would to Venice in time.

When Feli had found out about this only a few days ago, he was heartbroken, but quite irritated as well. Ludwig and he had not been able to spend Christmas together since the 1950’s, which to Feliciano felt like lifetime (which it was, at least to normal people anyway). Feli silently cursed Ludwig’s boss in his mind. Who would even think of making someone work on Christmas Eve _and_ Christmas Day? It was practically inhumane! Now here he was with no one to spend the holiday with. His brother and Gilbert were with other friends and Kiku had chosen to spend it with his own family.

Finally, Feliciano came across the store with some wrapping paper left, purchased it, and began to make his way back home. He was excited for his nose and fingers to be warm again. As he walked, he continued to admire the light displays and as he neared the Rialto Bridge, he came across a cozy looking café with an empty seat near the window. _Well, it wouldn’t hurt to sit for a just a cup of hot chocolate, would it?_ Feli thought. He entered and took a seat after giving his order to the waitress. He almost felt bad for coming in so late as she looked so tired. Within moments, the steaming cup was in his hands and he smiled at her sympathetically. 

“Merry Christmas,” she said kindly in Italian and with a smile of her own.

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Feli responded as she turned to walk away. While he sat sipping the hot chocolate, he was happy to feel the warmth come back to his fingers and toes. He was entirely content for only a few minutes before the loneliness set in, especially from seeing all the other couples around him. 

_I with Ludwig were here with me,_ he thought sadly, taking another sip of his drink that was beginning to cool faster and faster. Feliciano stayed in his seat for another ten minutes, watching as the streams of people outside the window grew thinner and lights that reflected from the freezing canal waters. He only left when all the feeling had returned to his body. 

As he walked home, Feli saw something white drift to the ground just in front of his, startling him. He paused before looking up to see hundreds of white flakes dancing in the frigid air. It…was snowing! Actually _snowing_ in Venice. It never snowed in Venice and Feli couldn’t even recall the last time he had seen snow in his homeland of Italy, especially Christmas snow no less! He couldn’t help but let a huge grin spread across his face. 

Slowly, Feli reached out a gloved hand, watching in joy as the tiny and perfect flakes landed in his palm before melting almost immediately at his touch

“Venice is quite beautiful in the snow isn’t it? I know it doesn’t snow here often,” a familiar voice said from behind him. 

Upon hearing that voice, Feli froze, recognizing it instantly, but not believe it. He turned slowly and stared in awe at the man that now stood before him. Ludwig was bundled up in his winter coat and offering the Italian a soft smile, quite a rare sight. Feliciano couldn’t help but think that Ludwig looked ridiculously handsome like that and was thankful that the cold had made his cheeks pink already so his blush was hidden.

Feliciano returned to smile before he launched himself to Ludwig’s arms, practically squealing in joy at the sight of his friend. Usually, Ludwig would have pushed him off with pink cheeks, especially in public, but this time, the warmth and company of each other was greatly welcomed. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Feliciano, returning the display of affection. 

“I thought you had business,” Feli said, his voice muffled from shoving his face into Ludwig’s jacket. After speaking, he only nuzzled himself deeper.

He could feel the vibration when Ludwig chuckled. “I finished as fast as I could and then got on the first plane here. I was incredibly lucky that there was a single empty seat left on the fight.” They stayed like that for a minute more before Ludwig broken the silence again. “Don’t you want to get out of this cold?”

Feli gasped, pulling his face from his companion’s coat. “Oh yes, of course!” He wasted no time in taking the taller man’s hand in his own and pulling him along the walkway in the direction of his home.

Once they arrived, as fast as he could with frozen fingers and numb hands, Feliciano unlocked the door and quickly ushered Ludwig in and the shutting the door behind the two of them. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief as he soaked up the warmth, glad to be inside after over an hour in freezing temperatures. Plus Ludwig was here! To Feliciano, there was nothing better. 

By the time he has warm enough to start stripping layers off, Ludwig was already standing in the foyer, wearing a dark green wool sweater and dark pants, admiring the décor of the house. Much like most things when it came to Feli, he surely wasn’t modest with his decorating. 

“Did you do all of this?” Ludwig asked while gesturing around the room, a look of approval on his face as well as a fond smile. He wished his friend was this meticulous and organized with everything he worked on. 

Feli glanced up from pulling off his boots, the last thing to take off, to see what Ludwig had been talking about. He laughed and nodded, “Yeah! As soon as December starts, I get decorating!” Now finally only in his own sweater and jeans, he joined Ludwig in admiring his decorating skills

After a moment, something caught Ludwig’s attention, or rather, two something’s, both pertaining to the sparkling Christmas tree in the corner by the windows. First: only two presents sat nestled underneath. Second: there was nothing to mark the top of the tree. 

“Where are all the presents?” he wondered aloud. Feliciano had many, many friends, probably the most of any personification, and plenty of human friends as well. Of course Christmas wasn’t just about giving and receiving gifts, but in seemed quite atypical for someone like Feli. Surely he had to have gotten more gifts this year that just those (excluding the present Ludwig had for him nestled in his bag of course).

“Huh?” Feli asked, following Ludwig’s gaze to his tree. He quickly understand and jumped to answer, “Oh, I already sent out most of my gifts for people and eh…,” he chuckled nervously, a blush on his cheeks, “Most people don’t trust me to not open mine before Christmas day so they don’t give them to me until after.” He paused before adding under his breath, “I haven’t opened anything early since I was really young. Roderich and Elizabeta made sure I learned my lesson…”

Ludwig couldn’t help but laugh before he asked his next question, “And what about the star?”

Suddenly, the Italian grew very quiet and bashful, a slight blush dusting across his cheeks. He then murmured something too softly for Ludwig to catch. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I, erm… I wanted to put the star up…with you…,” he said a bit louder, not meeting Ludwig’s eyes. The German blinked in surprise, a pink hue rising to his cheeks to match Feli’s own. Before he could form a response, Feli was already talking again. “I know, it’s silly, but I thought it would be something special you do together with someone you care about and-“

“Well,” Ludwig coughed, forcing his voice to sound normal and cutting Feliciano off, “Where is it?”

Feli’s head snapped up to look at Ludwig before a smile spread across his lips. He hurried to cross the room and lifted a glittery star piece from a cardboard box on the floor next to the tree. “Here you go!” he chirped, holding it out in Ludwig’s direction. Much to his surprise though, the taller man crossed the room and stood behind Feli before taking him by the hips and lifting him up.

“Germany?” Feliciano squeaked in surprise, accidently letting Ludwig’s personification name slip out his mouth. He tried to twist around to look down at his friend to no avail. 

“You said you wanted us to do this together, so I’m helping you put it on the top of the tree,” Ludwig responded. 

“O-oh!” Feli sputtered before he reached for the top of his Christmas tree. He gently placed in and plugged in into the light socked with in the tree to get it to light up. “All done!” With that, Ludwig gently lowered him back to the floor. He quickly moved to stand next to Ludwig in order to admire their work. The stood there for a moment more, Feli resisting the urge to cling onto the other man’s arm before he suddenly remembered something. 

He gasped, turning to face Ludwig. “I haven’t wrapped your present yet! Wait here!” He snatched the wrapping paper he had left by the door and raced up the stairs with the impressive speed Ludwig always forgets that the Italian secretly possesses. Ludwig took a seat on the couch to wait for his return.

It was a while until Feliciano appeared again. When he did, he was holding a very large, thin, rectangular shaped present. The package was a little over half his size as he leaned it up against the wall next to the tree. On full display written on the navy blue wrapping paper in silver ink, in Feliciano’s neatest, loopy cursive handwriting, read “ _To Ludwig, Love Feliciano. Merry Christmas._ ” For effect, he had drawn tiny hearts and stars around his message. 

Upon seeing this, Ludwig couldn’t help but smile softly at the kind gesture. He wondered what could be in a package of that size, but to his best guess, it was that Feliciano painted him something. 

“Ah, that reminds me,” Ludwig said, standing up and moving to the door where he left his bag. “I almost forgot to set your present out.” He felt a bit sheepish pulling out such a little box and placing it next to the huge one Feli had just set out, but he knew that Feliciano would like it anyway. It was something he knew Feli would be more than happy to have. 

Feliciano clapped his hands together, smiling, “Aw, you got me something, too?” 

“Of course I did. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t get you anything for Christmas?” Ludwig responded.

Feliciano just stood there for a moment, looking at Ludwig with a goofy yet happy smile on his face before letting out a big yawn and suggesting they should go to bed. Ludwig agreed though quickly realized that they did not have the same definition of “going to bed.” His idea certainly did not involve   
Feli crawling in the same bed right after him, but he Ludwig knew he’d appear sometime in the night anyway so he let him stay. Not to mention, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t mind the warmth or company from Feli (not that he’d ever admit that, though).

//♡\\\

_December 25, 20XX_

Like usual, Ludwig woke up before the sun had even risen, but this time, not by choice. He was pulled from his sleep by Feliciano roughly shaking him, “Luddy, come on, wake up! It’s Christmas!”

Blinking the sleep away from his eyes, Ludwig glanced over at the clock next to the bed. 5:22AM glared back at him in green as he sighed. Why couldn’t Feli have woken up this early with at least half of his current enthusiasm back when they used to train together? 

He let out one last sigh of vague disappointment before finally responding, “Alright, alright, I’m up.” Ludwig pushed himself into a sitting position causing Feliciano to fall off of his lap. The pair move downstairs, Feli clinging to pulling on Ludwig’s arm the whole time, though not that that made him move any faster. 

When they reached the living room, Ludwig was quick to pick up the soft Christmas music playing from an old record playing on a turntable. He felt himself smile a bit. That was just such a Feliciano thing to do and he realized that he couldn’t be happier, getting to spend Christmas with Feli after so many years. It has been such a long time since they had celebrated a holiday or special occasion together, actually. 

Veneziano never really had that much to do as he shared the duties of a personification of his brother who happened to represent Rome and Southern Italy as a whole. That meant that Romano, or Lovino, technically had more to do than his younger brother. For Ludwig on the other hand, it seemed that just as he had a firm grasp on his paperwork, more was getting dumped on him. As leader of the European Union and sole personification representative of Germany (aside from his brother Gilbert, but he didn’t do too much), meant that he never had much free time. It was the tender moments like this, though, that he was at his happiest and calmest. After all his paperwork was done and he could relax, especially when these tender moments could be spent with Feliciano.

As soon as Ludwig sat down on the couch near the tree, Feli was placing the large package from yesterday in Ludwig’s lap. He could have sworn that the Italian’s eyes had little sparkles in them. “What are you waiting for? Open it!” he said after a moment of Ludwig’s hesitance. 

“Why don’t you open your gift first, actually? It’s much smaller,” Ludwig said. He was nervous for Feliciano’s reaction and he hoped desperately that he’d like it. 

Feli made a fake annoyed face and sighed playfully, “Fine!” He picked up the tiny box and sat next to Ludwig on the couch before tenderly opening the paper as opposed to ripping it off violently. Ludwig liked to think that it was because Feli took care in what the German did for him, even if that was not the case. 

Inside the wrapping paper was a black rectangular box. Feli pulled the top off and his breath audibly hitched in his throat. Gently, he pulled out a silver pocket watch, his initials engraved on the back. They both recognized it as an old watch Ludwig had given him so many, many years ago when they first became friend. Feliciano had accidently lost it during one of the bombings on Italy and cried for days and days afterwards. He was terrified when he told Ludwig he lost it, he was so scared his friend would hate him for it, but all he did was sigh and nod, telling him it was alright. 

“How…how did you…?” Feli sounded choked up, yet absolutely breathless at the same time. 

“Ah…Alfred had found in and brought it back to America while I was…staying with him. I recognized it immediately and he demanded I fixed it for him. It was broken nearly beyond repair and I told him I was unable to do anything for him. He just threw it out like it was nothing, but I grabbing it out of the trash, knowing it was your lost watch. I was unable to fix it up for _him_ , but not for you. Sorry it took so long,” he chuckled, sheepishly, a blush coating his cheeks.

Feli clicked it open to see the hand ticking on one side of the clock and on the inside of the covering, an old black and white photo of the two of them. He recognized the image too, and it took everything not to burst into tears right then and there. Instead, he threw his arms around Ludwig’s neck and held him tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you so, so much.” After pulling away, he took a deep breath and smiled brightly. “Okay! Now open yours! I spent months working on it and making it perfect!” he gushed happily. 

Obeying the Italian man, Ludwig carefully took a corner of the wrapping paper and began to open the package. When the gift was entirely free and the paper had all fallen away, Ludwig stopped and stared at the gift in absolute amazement. He had been right, it was a painting, but what was on the canvas was so much more than that. Ludwig knew that a painting like this had taken so much more than just a few months. A few years would be more accurate. 

It was an extremely realistic painting of the two of them, Ludwig and Feliciano sitting on a hill next to a tree with the sunset behind them. He could tell that even in the dim light of the room, the colors were so accurate and vibrant, every little detail in the right place. The detail that drew Ludwig’s eye the most was their hands. In the middle of them, Ludwig’s hand was pressed against the ground with Feli’s on top of it, his fingers slipped in between to half hold his hand. Then, there was their eyes. Their faces were close and they were looking at each other so tenderly and fondly, and smile on each other their faces. They were looking at each other almost like they were…lovers. 

“Feliciano…,” Ludwig breathed softly.

Feli nervously bit his lip, clutching his new pocket watch in his hand tightly, waiting for Ludwig’s reaction. Could he tell what emotion was on their faces? Did Feli actually put _too much_ thought into it? Maybe the hand holding had been pushing it. He just wanted to show how much he cared for the German and let his true feelings show a little bit…

“This…this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” he admitted. He set the painting down and unexpectedly, it was now Ludwig pulling Feliciano in for a tight hug, surprising the Italian and even himself. 

Feli snuggled closer into Ludwig’s chest before saying softly, “I’ve actually seen something more beautiful.”

Ludwig scoffed quietly, letting himself hold Feli a bit tighter. “Something more beautiful that your art? That’s impossible.” 

“The one thing more beautiful…is you,” he confessed, the tips of his ears heating up. Both of the men were glad they couldn’t see each other’s face due to them both being flushed bright red. 

“I love you, Feliciano,” Ludwig whispered so quietly he himself hardly heard it, pushing his face deeper into Feliciano’s neck. The room was still for a bet and all Ludwig could hear was his own heart pounding in his ears. He felt his burning cheeks being cupped in warm hands and suddenly he was face to face with Feli. The look on his face was only one that could be described as love-struck before his lips met Ludwig’s own in a chaste kiss. A moment went by and their lips pressed harder against each other, taking in the taste of each other’s mouths. 

Feli’s lips were unbelievably soft and warm, much like the rest of him. He tasted vaguely of sweet lemon and cherry and in that moment, that was a taste Ludwig felt he could never get enough of.

After another moment, the pair pulled away and Feli rested his forehead against Ludwig’s, their eyes meeting in a tender gaze, much like the one Feli had painted on the canvas and had been wishing for all these years.

Ludwig smiled and took Feli’s hand and brought it to his lips briefly before bringing it back down. “I’m glad I got to spend this Christmas with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> i just love christmas so much, i couldnt resist writing some gerita for it! its almost december and im so excited!! happy holidays!


End file.
